Do Men Lose Their Minds Faster Than Women?

Men are more apt than women to lose thinking ability as they age, according to new research. And that mild cognitive impairment often leads to dementia.

But people can reduce their risk of mild cognitive impairment by staying healthy and educated, according to Rosebud Roberts, a professor of epidemiology at the Mayo Clinic who led the study. “There is a lot that people can do,” she told Shots.

The studied followed 1,450 people between the ages of 70 and 89 in Olmsted County, Minn., who were free of dementia in 2004. They went through testing every 15 months. After three years, 296 people had developed mild cognitive impairment. The study was published in the journal Neurology.

Men were more likely to be diagnosed, with 72 per 1,000 people developing a mild cognitive impairment; in women, the rate of diagnosis was 57 per 1,000. Overall, 6 percent were diagnosed with memory loss.

Comments

Men having been told for a lifetime that they are only valued for what they do…..When they no longer work lose direction and meaning in their own lives. not all but a quite large subset, that group fades quickly.

Hmm.. This has merit, that its not only health problems determine the well being of older men. I’ve read that in Australia, they are creating Mens huts. Places where men can gather and develop friendships, which also help maintain cognitive and physical health. They also create projects and volunteer in the community so that the men can still use their skills and perhaps develop new interests. The friendships seem to be what’s most critical, as typically men were too busy working to create strong networks of friends. I’d like to see that started here, many people seem to be cut off from the rest of society once they retire and men seem to have a lot of difficulty filling in the time (I worked in coffee shops and this was a common complaint after about two months of retirement).

The countless deaths of unarmed black men by police, coupled with persistent activism from communities of color, has forced the conversation of race on America, causing officials to reevaluate, among many things, how policing is done.